Brandon Nimmo and Amed Rosario were both in need of some timely hitting. Both delivered, combining for five hits and five runs batted in during an 8-3 win over the Miami Marlins on Tuesday night.
It's not every day that the eighth-place hitter in the lineup is leading the charge driving in runs, but that's what Rosario did with a solo home run and a two-RBI single that broke the game open. Rosario entered the series mired in a 1-for-17 slump, but got two hits on Monday and kept that going with another multi-hit game on Tuesday.
The Mets were also treated to a nice offensive performance by Nimmo, who tends to draw walks in his leadoff role. Nimmo finished the game a double shy of the cycle.
It continued a much-needed jumpstart to the Mets offense during the trip to Miami.
A night after power swings from Robinson Cano and Pete Alonso, the power remained for the Mets. Nimmo, J.D. Davis and Rosario all had solo home runs to keep the power surge going.
Nimmo broke a scoreless tie in the third inning with a solo shot off Marlins starter Humberto Mejia. An inning later, Davis tagged Mejia for another solo home run. Both drives were the fourth home runs of the season for each player.
In the seventh, Rosario struck a golfing shot to left field for his second home run of the season.
Corey Oswalt was not intended to start on Tuesday night, but toed the rubber when rookie David Peterson was scratched with shoulder troubles. Oswalt ran into some trouble in the fourth, but worked through it while keeping the lead.
Oswalt finished the night with two runs on five hits and four strikeouts across 4 1/3 innings. Oswalt labored through 74 pitches, a mark that manager Luis Rojas suggested would be close to his limit. Oswalt had spent weeks at the Alternate Training Site to stretch out for situations like Tuesday and with much of the Mets rotation in flux, Oswalt made a decent plea for remaining in the rotation.
Justin Wilson's 33rd birthday will be one to remember as the left-handed reliever notched the win in relief, pitching 1 1/3 innings after taking over for Oswalt. Wilson held on to a 3-2 Mets lead in the fifth to earn the victory.
It's the fourth time Wilson has pitched on his birthday and the second time Wilson celebrated with earning a win. Wilson earned a win as a member of the Detroit Tigers in 2016 on his 29th birthday and got a hold in 2015 when he turned 28.
Jared Hughes got the final out of the sixth inning to keep the lead for Wilson, then pitched a clean seventh inning as the Mets extended the lead in the process. Dellin Betances tossed a scoreless eighth inning, while Edwin Diaz allowed a run in the ninth before shutting the door.
